Triple Fault

Triple Fault
Season 8, Episode 7 (96)
Air date	November 22, 2016
Written by	Jon Graham
Directed by	Jon Graham
Episode guide
Previous "Lockout"	Next "Warhead"

"Triple Fault" is the seventh episode of the eighth season of Arby 'n' the Chief. It was uploaded on November 22nd, 2016; shortly after, a copyright claim was filed against the episode, which made it unavailable in the United States.

The episode is named after a triple fault, a condition which appears when a CPU detects an error while handling an error in an exception handler (a double fault); this condition usually triggers an immediate reboot or shutdown.

Plot

Claire and Arbiter are seen on a map discussing a few things regarding the fight between Chief and Arbiter, along with Arbiter's attempted suicide back in "Ignition" before going off to do some matchmaking so Arbiter can be away from Chief for a while so the two of them can cool off.

In an apartment, a box is shaking as if something is trying come out of it. In the ship's cargo deck, Aribiter corners PAL with a heavy machine gun. PAL warns that firing the weapon will cause richocets and accidentally hit the missiles in the cargo deck causing them to explode. Arbiter counters that the rounds are high-velocity and penetrating and won't richocet, but PAL dares him to fire and set off the warheads, even when Arbiter reveals he knows what PAL did to the other crew members and is livid. Arbiter concedes and instead draws out a large club and pursues PAL with it, delivering one blow before shooting him with his Magnum and sneding PAL flying for its life as Arbiter retrieves the heavy machine gun and goes after him. PAL manages to escape behind a forcefield where it's safe from Arbiter's wrath, but Arbiter knows he can simply go and shut down PAL's core instead. PAL pleads for mercy, but Arbiter tells it off and gives it the riot act before grabbing his heavy machine gun and heading to the core. PAL lowers the forcefield and goes after Arbiter, but as Arbiter waits to ambush PAL, he changes his mind, so when PAL turns to see where he was hiding, Arbiter is gone, having headed back through the cargo bay to get to PAL's core as PAL contemplates what Arbiter said, saying it's broken. PAL snaps and begins knocking over the missiles, refusing to believe it's broken and that it's still perfect. As for Arbiter, he's forced to drop the heavy machine gun because of its weight, only to then hear the alarms sound, as the gas in the warheads was released when PAL knocked them over in it's rage and is spreading through the ship, forcing him to pick the gun up again as he goes to the core. Remembering the automated sentries guarding it, Arbiter ditches the gun and, running into the sentries' sights, tosses a frag grenade behind them to destroy them, before quickly using an Armor Lock to protect himself as the guns open fire on him. Seconds later, the frag blows, destroying the automated sentries. Grabbing his own heavy machine gun, Arbiter proceeds, only to find a forcefield blocking his way in. He tries using his Shotgun and melee attacks, but nothing works. PAL had gotten ahead of him and protected its core, so Arbiter could not shut him down. Arbiter admits defeat, and PAL wishes him goodbye before he succumbs to the gas. As Arbiter figures out what to do next, he notices a nearby console.

As for PAL, it celebrates its victory and remaining online, but as it goes to do a few things, it hears a strange beeping noise. Going to investigate, PAL finds that Arbiter left the proximity mine to trap it, and it is armed and ready to detonate. Realizing it has been outsmarted, PAL tries to contact Arbiter, but gets no response. It is then PAL gets an incoming transmission from Arbiter, who offers a compromise: Let Arbiter into PAL's core, and he'll give PAL the proximity mine's disarming code. PAL refuses, but Arbiter thinks that being stuck with its porn would not be a bad thing for PAL after all. Arbiter is willing to let the mission fail if it means PAL is punished for its actions. Faced with a no-win scenario, PAL concedes and shuts off the forcefield guarding its core, allowing Arbiter to enter, but wants the code to the proximity mine to disarm it, but Arbiter reveals he was bluffing and refuses, thinking PAL deserves to be stuck there while Arbiter is free to shut him down. PAL rants in fury while Arbiter reaches the core, but doesn't know how to shut it down. Deciding to screw it, Arbiter blasts it with his heavy machine gun and manages to do enough damage to destroy it. It is then Arbiter sees a vision of Claire, who reveals everything around him is a dream, like what Eugene said earlier, but Arbiter isn't falling for it as he draws his Magnum and shoots Claire, revealing her to actually be Eugene, having tried to trick him again and make him commit suicide.

A minute later, back on the control deck, Arbiter manages to start the ventilation system before he keels over from the gas. He soon recovers and comes to. Going to where he last saw PAL, Arbiter enters the room cautiously, but finds PAL hanging limp, offline thanks to the destruction of the core. Arbiter disarms the proximity mine, but when he checks on PAL, PAL seems to be back to normal, as he no longer is talking in leet speak, but feels itself shutting down, and asks Arbiter to be its friend before it goes. Arbiter accepts, and soon after, PAL shuts down, his speech deteriorating before he becomes lifeless.

A moment later, Jon's face appears in a pre-recorded video on the computer screen next to them. He states that the mission could not possibly continue due to the disconnection of PAL. Instead of instructing methods of manually controlling the vessel for immediate return, Jon began explaining potential ways to commit suicide. Arbiter angrily destroyed the video communication device with his Shotgun, determined to find a more positive solution to his predicament. However, by shutting down PAL, he had inadvertently disabled the Truth & Reconciliation's defensive measures. He only finds out when he receives an incoming transmission as the ship's alarms blare again.

The incoming transmission was revealed to be from the evil alien Lord Zanthar, who threatened to butt-rape Arbiter. Arbiter was perplexed by the situation, clearly seeing the alien overlord as Jon in disguise and wondering if the situation was merely a sick joke. Zanthar's alien minions then breached the hull of the Truth & Reconciliation and boarded the craft. Each alien was well armed and armored, carrying heavy plasma weaponry. The pirates coordinated with Zanthar over radio to capture, torture, and murder Arbiter and any other possible crew members they encountered.

Meanwhile in Jon's new apartment, the Master Chief figure inexplicably came to life with Chief's restored memories and personality. Chief struggled out of the box and was momentarily stunned by the implications of his return. He examined the Apartment, recognizing the Guy Fawkes Mask that he had become enamored with years earlier. He then scoffed at noticing the novelization of 2001: A Space Odyssey out of contempt for the film's artistic direction. He soon learned from a birthday letter that he had returned to Jon's possession. After making a casual disparaging remark about Jon and wishing severe bodily harm on his unwanted roommate, Chief realized Arbiter had also returned in the package. Chief sought to reawaken Arbiter and free him from the packaging, still highly valuing their old friendship. That was until Chief caught a glimpse of the Halo: Reach box. In a scene reminiscent of 2001, Chief approached the box in a religious sense of awe and wonder, completely overcome with his obsession for the classic Halo Series. He then immidiately booted up Jon's old XBOX 360 with excitement of returning to trolling noobs and resuming his quest of becoming the greatest Halo player of all time! Unfortunately, this would be delayed due to Microsoft security parameter updates needing to install. Chief became enraged, throwing the controller, condemning Microsoft, and demanding the instant return of the game. He had completely forgotten about Arbiter's continued unconscious predicament.

Cast

• Elizabeth Carr-Ernst as Claire Ferguson
• Microsoft Mike as The Arbiter
• Microsoft Sam as PAL-9001 / Master Chief
• Jon Graham as himself, Zanthar, Space Allens

Transcript

Main article: Triple Fault/Transcript

Watch the episode

Trivia

• PAL briefly sings a few lines of "Blow Me Away" by Breaking Benjamin who were featured in Halo 2's soundtrack.